Wardrobe-trunk.



G. H. WHEARY.

WARDROBE TRUNK.

APPLICATION IILED AUG.5, 1910.

,057, 1 95. Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

W {@071 26 WA G. H. WHEARY. WARDROBE TRUNK.

APPLIGATION FILED AUG. 5, 1910. 1,057,195, Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

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- 6%@WMW G. H. WHEARY.

WARDROBE TRUNK.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 5, 1910. 1,057,195, Patented Mar. 25, 1913.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. it

GEORGE a. WHEABY, oraacma wlscoNsm.

WARDROBE-TRUNK.

mamas.

as a closet, whereby the clothes are not only more readily packed andunpacked, and preserved in good condition during the time the trunk isclosed, but also made more accessi-' ble when the trunk is open.

Objects of my inventlon are to provide an improved arrangement of thehangers 1n the trunk; to provide an arrangement whereby the hangers willbe more-accessible and more easily removed and replaced than heretofore;to provide means for more effectively holding the hangers in place andfor securely clamping clothes in place and against disarrapgement/whilethe trunk is 'closed fiid b eing moved about; to provide an improvedwardrobe trunk of less length than heretofore, whereby the same will beeasier to handle and transport; to provide an improved construction andarrangement whereby, when the trunk is standing on end,

or when the tray containing the hangers is tilted to an uprightposition, depending upon the style of the trunk, there will be no lostspace above the hangers, thus reducing the size of the trunk to aminimum';. to provide an improved arrangement whereby any hanger can beremoved upwardly, withoutdisturbing .the others, thus making it possibleto remove the clothing atthe back without disturbing the clothing atfront, when the trunk is open and in position to properly support thehangers; to rovide an im-. proved construction an whereby hooks will notbe necessary for-the hangers, thus shortening the distance between thetops of the hangers and the end wall of the trunk, or the end Wall-ofthe tray, depending upon the style of trunk in which my invention isemployed; and topi'ovide certain details and features of improvement andcombinations, tending'to in-- crease the general efficiency of a trunkof this particular character.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 5, 1910. Serial No. 575,742.

arrangement Patented-Mar. 25, 1913.

To the foregoing and other useful ends,

my invention consists in-matters hereinafter set forth and claimed.

.' In the accompanying drawings-Figure principles of my invention,showing the same open and ready to be closed. Fig. 2 is a view similarto Fig. 1, but showing the hanger rack extended from the trunk, and

the upper end of the trunk open, whereby the hangers may be widelyseparated while the trunk is standing open, thus facilitating packingand unpacking of the trunk, and 7 a trunk in which the hangers arecarried'by a till that is movable to an upright position, wherebythe'trunk does not need to stand on end, as is the case .in Figs. land 2,but may remain on the floor in a horizontal p0! sitlon.

As thus illustrated, and referring to F' 1 and 2, the trunk A may be ofany suitaii i known or approved form or construction.

As shown, it comprises a bottom section a and a top section a, which arehinged together, the latter section serving as a lid or cover for thetrunk. When the trunk is open it stands on one end thereof, so that theend lid or cover B is uppermost. This end lid or cover B has an innerpad or lining b,

the purpose of which will hereinafter more fully appear. It will be seenthat the said lid or cover Bis hingedat its lower edge to the bottom ,ofthe trunk,'so that it can be thrown back in the manner shown in Fig. 2,

when the trunk is: standing open. The said trunk is of the typeordinarily known as a wardrobe trunk, and as such is providedwith a rackfor supporting clothes-hangers.

The said rack cons1sts of a pair of round bars C which have their innerends secured to. a strap a on the bottom wall of the trunk, which strapis arranged near the hinged edge of the cover B, as shown in 2.' Theouter ends of these bars 0 are pivotally con-- nected with. the rods 0,which latter are adapted to swing up and 'down'-that .is to say, theyare adapted to swing back into the trunk, as shown in Fig. 1. he'strap ais U-shaped in character, and its outer ends are connected with asimilar U-shaped strap or frame of metal a, the transverse portion 60 1is. a perspective of a trunk embodying" the of the latter being securedto the outer ends of the rods 0, whereby a hinged or jointed frame isprovided. The swinging frame, composed of the rods 0 and the U-shapedstrap or frame 0 is held in a horizontal position by the braces 0 whichhave their upper ends pivoted to tire-frame a and which have theirinner-free "ends adapted to slide through brackets c which are securedto the side walls ofthe trunk near the outer edges thereof. These braces0 have notches therein which engage the bracket 0* to hold the swingingframe in horizontal position, as shown in Fig.2, and have other notcheswhich engage the said brackets to lock the frame in its closed position,as shown in Fig. 1. This will be readily understood from the drawings.The rods C and the swinging extensions 0' thereof constitute rails uponwhich to movablyor adj ustably support the clothes hangers. The saidclothes hangers are each provided with a horizontal bar D having notchescl on the'underside thereof,

- nearv the outer endsof the same, adapted to engage therods C or 0, asshown in Fig.

2. These bars D have the remaining por-- tions 01' of the hangerssecured thereto by pivots d the hangers shown being what are ordinarilyknown as coat hangers. It will be understood, however, that the hangerscan be of any suitable character, so far as the article of clothing isconcerned, and can be provided with any suitable means for supportingskirts or trousers or other articles of clothing.

The outer end of the swinging frame, composed of the rods 0 and bent orU-shaped straps 0 is provided with abow spring 0 to which'is secured aplate or presser bar 0 which latter is adapted to yieldingly press theclothes down into position when the trunk is closed, as shown in Fig. l.It will be seen that the hangers are adapted to slide alon the rods 0and 0, so that they can be wide y separated while the trunk is open andthe hanger rack extended,.- as shown in Fig.2, thus facilitatin thehanging in. place of the clothes or t e removal thereof.- After theclothes are all hung in.

place, then the hangers are all crowded together and shoved inward, sothat they will all be supported within the trunk by the rods G; theswinging outer end of the hanger frame is then pressed downward, asshown in Fig. 1, thus brin ing the resser bar a into position to-hol theclot es firmly togather. Then the cover or lid B is closed, so that itspad or yielding lining b will ongagethe bars D, or the clothing-laidover the same, thus holding the latter firmly in lace on the rods (3, soas to prevent the iiangers from rattling around while the trunkis beingmoved about, and thus revent disarrangement of the clothing. t is atthis time, and by reason of the pressure swinging tray H is, as amatterof the pad 6, that the braces c are locked to the brackets 0 thuspreventing the swinging outer end of the hanger frame from movingdownwardthat is to say, it is locked in position as shown in Fig. 1.Thus the entire structure comprising thehangers and hanger frame is heldin rigid condition, so that the clothes are firmly held in position, andthe structure cannot rattle or move around in the trunk while it isclosed and being handled and moved from place to place.

As there is a bulge E on the outside of the cover or lid B, and asimilar bulge F on the corresponding end of the trunk section a, itfollows that the trunk can only stand on one end, and can never beturned upside down-- that is to say, its upper end is, by these bulgingportions, made convex to the extent that it will not stand readily onthis end and will always be raised to stand on the other end. Thus thedanger of the trunk being turned upside down, so that the clothing mighttend to become wrinkled or disarranged, is precluded or at leastgi'eatly reduced. A trunk of this kind can, of course, be used as a sortof temporary or portable closet-that is to say, in traveling it can beopened and allowed to stand upright, as shown in Fig; 2, and in this waythe clothes hangers canbe easily taken down and readily hung up, and theclothing is about as accessible as it would be in an ordinary closet.

As shown in Fig. 3, the trunk is of that kind in which one or morehorizontal trays are employed, one on top of the other, such for exampleas the bottom tray G and the upper tray H, making it desirable that thetrunk shall always stand horizontally while being packed or unpacked, inthe well known and familiarrnanner. Such being the case, it becomesdesirable to make the upper tray H suitable for carrying the hangers andhanger frame, which are precisely the same as those previously shown anddescribed, and to provide the said tray with the swinging end wall I,which latter is of the same characteras the swinging end wall B,previously described. -It ,is also desirable, therefore, that he saidtray H be adapted to swing in an upright position, so that the saidhangers will be at the upper end thereof, while the clothes are beinghung up or taken down, as shown in Fig. 3. The of further and specialimprovement, proyided with swinging legs h which are adapted to foldinto the tray when the trunk is closed, and which are adapted to rest onthe floor when the trunk is open and the tray in an upright position, asshown in the drawings. Thus the hangers, which have bars D similar tothose previously shown and described, are

. adapted to rest upon the hanger frame at the upper end of thetray H,when the latter is in an upright position, and the effect issubstantially the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, as heretoforeexplained. Obviously, therefore, my improved arrangement for supportingthe clothes hangers can be applied to trunks of various kinds anddescriptions, and in which the arrangement facilitates packing andunpacking of the trunk, as during such operation the hangers are verywidely separated, thus giving ready access to the clothes, andnotwithstanding the fact that'when the trunks are closed the hangers arecrowded together in a very small area, as is also the case with theclothing. This is obviously advantageous, as it not only makes it mucheasier and more convenient to use the trunk as a closet, but alsorenders it less difficult to pack and unpack the trunk without mussingor wrinkling the clothes. In the said Fig. 3, it will be seen that thetray H is provided with slotted links h, at the sides thereof, whichconnect with the main body of the trunk, whereby it is firmly held inupright position. The slots in these links permit the tray, in a manner,which will be readily understood, to readily swing down and into thetrunk.

The end lid or cover B is preferably'provided with catches or fasteningdevices I) which engage cooperating devices I) on the sides of the'trunkof any suitable, known or approved form to lock the trunk closed. Theswinging end wall or member I is similarly provided with devices 71adapted to engage devices i on the sides of the tray-t lock the saidmembers closed.

It will be readily understood that the trunk can be provided with asuitable lock and other devices for keeping it together while closed.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that no hooks are required for thehangers, and that, consequently, there is no lost space between the topsof the hangers and the end wall of the trunk, or the end wall of thetray, depending upon the style of trunk in which my invention isemployed. By thus reducing the space between the tops. of the hangersand the end wall of the trunk, or the end wall of the tray, as the casemay be, the total length of the trunk is materially reduced, thusfacilitating handling and transportation thereof, and completelysatisfying the requirements of the railroads in this respect.

Prior to my invention, it was found impossible to properly supportcertainkinds of clothing in a wardrobe trunk of say fifty orfifty-four-inches in length, and trunks of such length were found to beunsatisfac-' tory and objectionable by the railroads.

With my invention, however, a one-piece dress, the so-called princessstyle, can be satisfactorily supported on a hanger, and also longskirts, in a trunk which does not need to exceed forty inches inlength-that is to say, forty inches in length when the trunk isstandingon end, or when the tray is tilted to an upright position, s thecase may be. If a dress or skirt or other garment is longer than thetrunk, the lower end thereof can be brought upand closed over the bar Dof the hanger. Any clothing thus arranged is held in place by the pad I;of the door B when the latter is closed.- A trunk of such size is','Ifind, entirely satisfactory to the railroads, and is also entirelysatisfactory to the user, as it is asfully satisfactory for the purposefor which it is intended. In fact, and by the provision of the swingingor movable end wall of the trunk, or for the .end of the tray, it isapparent that the clothing at the back-can be removed without disturbingthe clothing in the front, as any hanger can be moved up wardly without,disturbing the other hang-' ers. Previous to my invention this wasimpossible, as the clothing at the bot-tom of the trunk, or the backwhen the trunk was standing on end, could only be removed by firstremoving or disturbing the clothing on top or in front, which wasextremely objectionable. Also, and by using the swinging end. wall ofthe trunk, or the swinging end wall of the tray, as a means for clampingthe hangers in place, the clothing is held properly in place, and noinside following board or rack is required, so that further space issaved with a viewto reducing the size or the trunk. It follows,therefore, that I do not limit myself to the exact construction shownand described.

v The padding b makes contact, itwill be seen, for substantially thefull length of the.

bar 0-, or with the clothes thereon, whereby thelatter are preventedfrom slipping off.

The said padding or cushion b is sufliciently soft to be indented by thebars, or by the clothes, thus making parallel furrows in the padding.For this purpose the lid B has a rigid wall that is faced with the saidpadding, and which is strong enough to withstand the compression. At thesame time, however, the said padding or cushion b is sufficiently firmto properly and securely hold the clothes on the bar 0, but withoutinjury thereto. By thus gripping the clothes at one end of the trunk,and by using a lid for this purpose which does not materially lengthenthe trunk, I am enabled to pro vide a much shorter trunk thanheretofore.

What I claim as my invention is: v 1. In'a trunk, one or more clotheshangers,- each having a bar upon wihich the clothes are supported, bydraping the clothes over the upper edge of the bar, and a movable endwall'for said trunk, having a rigid wall faced inside with padding whichon gages the'clothes to clamp the same upon the said upper edge of thebar, said padding adapted to make contact with the said bar,

& 1,057,

or with the clothes thereon, for substantially the full length thereof,whereby the clothes are securely held on the bar Withoutinjury thereto.

2. In a trunk, one or more clothes hangers, each having a bar upon whichthe clothes are supported, by draping the clothes over the upper edge 0the bar, a movable end wall for said trunk, having a rigid Wall faced.inside with padding which engages the clothes to clamp the same upon thesaid upper edge of the bar, said padding adapted to make contact withthe said bar, or with the clothes thereon, for substantially the fulllength thereof, whereby the clothes are securely held on the bar withoutinjury thereto, and means for locking said end Wall in closed position.v

Signed by me at Racine, Wisconsin, this 26th day of July, 1910.

GEORGE H. WHEARY, Witnesses:

HENRY S. HARTMANN, ARTHUR R. JANES.

